Documents obtained by The Brooklyn Paper through a Freedom of Information Law request reveal a vigorous debate over how best to control the goose population near New York’s airports — and shows that last month’s extermination of some 290 geese in Prospect Park may not have been necessary. The excerpted transcript below represents minutes of a meeting among various state, city and federal agencies from 2006 that discusses how widely geese should be culled. The consensus was five miles from airports, which does not include Prospect Park.

Federal Wildlife Services: How far outside the airport?

U.S. Department of Agriculture: A five-mile radius is sensible, not further than five miles.

Kim Wagner of Wildlife Services: Geese will be hardest to control in parks. [There is] an emotional issue. [We] need to know how to handle [it].

Department of Environmental Protection: According to the Federal Aviation Administration in previous … meetings, five miles is just a number. The liability issue can extend 30 miles [and] influence any large area.

USDA: No additional studies will occur. … [We] need to pick a distance.

Reasonable discourse

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